Rackspace Weekly Digest: Friday, September 7

Summer is grinding to a close – unofficially, anyway — and another week is in the books. But here at Rackspace we’re running full steam ahead. Despite the Labor Day holiday, this week was chock full of interesting tidbits, and there’s more to come.

Cloud Tools Marketplace: An Inside Look

We recently held a webinar to walk through the Cloud Tools Marketplace, which is a new addition to the Cloud Tools Program. In the webinar we covered the three-year history of the program as well as a walkthrough of what’s new. If you haven’t had a chance to see the new Marketplace, check it. And to watch the webinar and demo, click here.

Welcome Mailgun

We have acquired Mailgun, a San Francisco-based company that helps developers integrate email sending and receiving capabilities into websites and applications built in a cloud world. Email is a core component of most websites and applications today, and Mailgun’s offering fulfills that need for nearly all of our cloud and hosting customers.

September Startup Events

It’s no secret that we love startups. And one of the key elements to getting startups off the ground is to gather with like-minded entrepreneurs looking to launch the next big thing. There are startup events in nearly every major city around the globe. Check out our Rackspace Startup Program Global Event Guide to see where startup events are happening this month.

Prepping For Windows Server 2012

Earlier this week, Microsoft launched Windows Server 2012. We’re now hard at work to deliver the updates to our cloud customers. Windows Server 2012 will give our customers access to a host of improvements, including cloud and remote features, improvements in deploying and managing multiple servers and new Active Director Domain Services features.

An Open Cloud Conversation

With the open cloud discussion reaching fever pitch, technology evangelist Ben Kepes has pulled together a panel of open cloud experts to discuss the open cloud in a Google+ hangout for “A Conversation on Open Cloud.” The event is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 1 p.m. CST. Joining Kepes for the conversation will be Krishnan Subramanian, analyst and founder of Rishidot Research, and Jonathan Bryce, Rackspace cloud founder and key member of the OpenStack Foundation. Join the conversation here.